ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO BEING ICT BOSS THEN TEL? Butcher turns his back on the good life to fight a drop battle FORMER ENGLAND SKIPPER TAKES THE HOTSEAT.

Byline: BY NEIL CAMERON 

TERRY BUTCHER yesterday admitted he'd turned his back on what was a wonderful life for the stress, pain and horror of a relegation battle.

But after his first sleepless night in some time, the former England and Rangers captain knew he would not say no to Inverness Caley Thistle, the team rock bottom of the SPL, even with all the hassle which will come his way from now until May.

Butcher has always had a fine line in self-deprecation and more than once conceded there was a touch of madness about him.

However, to those who have known just how much he's enjoyed being out of the firing line, his decision to take on this job looked, from the outside, to be a strange one. He loves working as George Burley's No.2 at Scotland and thoroughly enjoyed his stint with Setanta, not only for the opportunity to talk football for a living, but also the lifestyle it afforded.

After quitting Motherwell in 2006 he had short unsuccessful stints with Sydney FC and English outfit Brentford.

After he was sacked by the League Two side life was far more relaxed but Butcher is a a proper football man and when the Caley Thistle call came he just had to answer it.

Butcher, who will have Maurice Malpas as his No.2, said: "There have been a few candles burned and a few Zs missed over the past few nights.

"I did have a wonderful life. Colin Davidson at Setanta has been wonderful, as were all the people there. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was nice to be paid for talking quality rubbish. It was quite an easy life.

They were happy with me - I don't know why - and there was Scotland as well.

"But you don't get many chances like this. I've had some setbacks recently, in Sydney and at Brentford, but they were going into the unknown. This is not.

"I spoke to George Burley about this. I know the SPL and I've never been sacked in Scotland, which is quite nice. Setanta were fantastic and said it was in the blood.

"George was the same. He said it had to be right for me. He was very enthusiastic about it. I had a fantastic time. The schedule was great and I got paid to watch games, which helped with Scotland as well. But as I said, not many SPL clubs give you this opportunity.

Albeit, this is a difficult challenge but one I felt was right. It might never have happened again."

So it's Celtic on Sunday then the small task of keeping this club afloat.

The appointment had the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium buzzing last night, a feeling that had been missing recently.

Butcher is a big personality and will give everyone a lift. But that won't be enough to save his new team.

He said: "It's a difficult task. I always seem to take on really hard jobs. Sometimes they come off and other times they don't. But nobody knows unless they try.

"Monday was the first sleepless night I've had in a long while. I know there are pros and cons with the job but once my mind was made up, I knew I'd made the right decision."

Inverness are a friendly club in a beautiful part of the world but it's high time they started to show their nasty side on the field.

Butcher said: "It would be a real shame to lose SPL football up here. It's a lovely place to come and that's the problem. It has become too lovely a place because they have had eight defeats at home with just one victory. It's been way too nice.

"I don't want my team to be dirty but the discipline has to be right. They have to show me how much they want to stay in the SPL, how much they want to play for the jersey.

"It's not about contracts. That doesn't matter because we don't know where we are going to be at the end of the season.

"I'll meet the players in the morning.

I'm sure one or two will try to find out about Maurice and me. How many cups were thrown and doors kicked. I'm really looking forward to getting down to the training ground again."

So Butcher will be getting his boots on every day instead of going to Boots the chemist. And Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda etc, etc.

He said: "My day-to-day was going to the supermarkets the rest. That can grate on you.

"People thought I was a wino because I kept going round all the wine stores looking for the best bottles. All my emails were about getting the best offers on different wines. There is only so much I can drink. That tells you a lot of what I've been up to.

"So I'm really looking forward to this. It's a big challenge but a great one. If everyone pulls together we'll give this a right good go."

Malpas can't wait to get started either and revealed he felt he might never get back into football again before Butcher reunited their partnership in the Highland capital. The two men worked well together at Motherwell but Malpas has been out of work since being sacked by Swindon just over two months ago.

He said: "This is great for me.

I've had 10 weeks out of a job and you always wonder if you're going to get back into the game.

"So I'm fortunate I'm back in quickly and this is something I'm looking forward to. Hopefully, the players can see we are comfortable together and they can take confidence from that."

CAPTION(S):

TEL OF A TASK: The size of Terry Butcher's new job seems to sink in yesterday; REUNITED: Terry Butcher with his Inverness No. 2 Maurice Malpas